Judd Apatow constantly has several irons in the fire, working with actors, writers, comedians and protégés on all kinds of projects. His latest is a return to TV. Netflix has ordered two seasons of “Love,” which stars writer/actor Paul Rust from “I Love You, Beth Cooper” (he also had a tiny cameo in “Inglorious Basterds”) and Gillian Jacobs (“Community”). It’ll be 10 episodes for season one and 12 for season two, and the show centers on a couple who must navigate the exhilarations and humiliations of intimacy, commitment and other things they were hoping to avoid.
The half-hour comedy series is produced by Apatow Productions and Legendary Television, and created and written by Apatow, Rust and writer Leslie Arfin (a former Vice employee who wrote about her heroin addiction and wild party days in the book “Dear Diary” and soon parlayed that into gigs writing for “Girls” and “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”).
“Judd Apatow has a unique comedic voice that manages to be delightful, insightful, and shockingly frank – often at the same time,” said Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos. “Together with Paul and Lesley, he’s bringing a whole new level of agony and ecstasy to this modern day comedy of manners.”
“I am so excited to get to work with Paul and Lesley on this project,” said Apatow. “Netflix has been supportive in ways I couldn’t create in my wildest fever dreams.”
While a producer on “Girls,” Apatow hasn’t created (or in this case co-created) a series in over a decade, the last being Fox’s “Undeclared.” Apatow’s next big gig is as the director of “Trainwreck,” starring up-and-coming comedienne Amy Schumer. It’s yet another project where Apatow seized on a rising young talent and decided to invest everything in her (Schumer’s never led a movie before, let alone been the second or third lead). The 33-year-old Rust is another comedian that Apatow has had his eye on for a while. Clearly they’ve finally found the right vehicle.
